WIC 2010 – Panel Discussions

Writing Industries Conference 2010
Saturday 6th March 2010, Loughborough University
A Literature Network, Writing East Midlands
and Loughborough University project.
http://writingindustries.com
Twitter #wic2010

The Writing Industries Conference brings together writers from across the East Midlands and beyond with professionals from the writing industries to share knowledge, develop skills and make new contacts. The conference is open to anyone with an interest in writing, from unpublished writers who want to learn more to bestselling novelists.

The full programme for WIC 2010 is available online here:

http://writingindustries.com/programme/

A theme of this year’s conference is the many changes taking place in the writing industries. With new technologies from the internet to ebooks causing revolutionary change in commercial publishing, WIC 2010 discusses how writers are making the most of the opportunities that come with change. Following the tremendous success of Harry Potter, speakers including Bali Rai and Chris d’Lacey talk about the fundamentals of writing for younger readers. With more writers than ever making a living from poetry, Sarah Ellis of spoken word agency Apples & Snakes and a panel of working poets discuss how and why. And with Paranormal Romance such as Twilight and True Blood topping bestseller lists, Romance author Sue Moorcroft asks where next for one of the most traditional genres of fiction.

The Writing Industries Conference also explores the broad range of ways writers make a living, and the new areas opening up for talented writers. New interactive media and video games are now bigger business than Hollywood, Steve Ince (Author of ‘Writing for Video Games’) and Graham Joyce (Writer, Doom 4) talk about the place of writers in this new industry. With screenwriting among the most rewarding and competitive outlet for writers, Peter Leslie Wild (Senior Producer, BBC Radio) and Amanda Whittington (Playwright and Screenwriter) join the discussion on how writers sell scripts and get them produced. And Paul Munden (National Association of Writers in Education) joins professional poets from the region to talk about how writers work in the community.

Just a few of the other speakers at the Writing Industries Conference 2010 include Bernie Corbett (Writers Guild) Bella Pagan (Orbit Books), Alan Mahar (Tindal Street Press), Steve Dearden (National Association for Literature Development),Bea Udeh (Nottingham Playhouse producer and BRIT Regional Director), Mark Gwynne Jones (poet and performer), Nicola Monaghan (novelist), John Coster (Citizens Eye), Mark Charan Newton (fantasy novelist), Mary Nichols (historical romance writer) and Julia Churchill (Greenhouse Literary Agency).

Also on offer are a limited number of 1-2-1 meetings with professional agents and editors representing a range of writing genres:

Lorella Belli (Lorella Belli Literary Agency)
Ollie Munson (Blake Friedmann, Literary TV and Film Agency)
Alan Mahar (Tindal Street Press)
Sarah Ellis (Apples and Snakes)
James Wills (Watson, Little Ltd)
John Berlyne (Zeno Agency Ltd)
Jane Finigan (Lutyens & Rubinstein Literary Agency)
Wayne Burrows (Staple Magazine)